Friday, April 08, 2005

No more Starbucks Chai?!

There are emails and rumors going around that Starbucks refused a request from the military to send coffee to the troops in Iraq --the email continues in charging that Starbucks said 'No' because they 'don't support the war and will not send any coffee'...

You can continue to enjoy your Grande Carmel Macchiatos...this rumor is not true.

Here is the explanation:"Starbucks assured [the originator of the email] of their support of the military and that the only reason any coffee was not donated was because the official Starbucks donation policy authorizes such gifts to officially designated public charities, including libraries and schools, and that the U.S. military or military personnel do not qualify.It was not meant to be a comment on the war or the service of military personnel in the war.The company said that there have been employees that have showed their support through donations of coffee.Starbucks told us that many of the company's employees (called "partners" by Starbucks) receive one pound of free coffee each week and some of that coffee has gone to members of the military or related organizations.For example, the employees in the Starbucks in Atascadero, California, decided to send their weekly free coffee to troops in Afghanistan and there are other such stories about Starbucks coffee finding its way into the hands of military personnel."(source)